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Geno Smith and Jalen Hurts were the most valuable QBs in 2022

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By: Tyler Alsin

Photo by Michael Owens/Getty Images

Geno Smith emerged this season as one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL on one of the cheapest contracts. His level of play held up for most of the season, granting him a Pro Bowl appearance, all while making $3.5 million this year.

He threw 30 touchdowns in 2022, one of only four quarterbacks to do so. It got me thinking, just how valuable was the Geno Smith contract this season?

Back in November, at the peak of Genomania, I tested out a statistic dubbed touchdowns per million (TD/m). It was a fun way to look at our most celebrated metric, the touchdown, and how much a team pays their gunslinger to get them.

Some of you seemed to agree.


So we’re back, with potentially the Internet’s only definitive ranking of something that does not matter whatsoever, but is plenty fun to argue about.

This list is every NFL QB who threw 20 or more TD passes this year, alongside the cost it took to get them there.

Player | Total TD | ‘22 Cap Hit | TD/$m

Patrick Mahomes | 41 | $35,793,381 | 1.148 |
Josh Allen | 35 | $16,372,281 | 2.14
Joe Burrow | 35 | $9,870,037 | 3.55 |
Geno Smith | 30 | 3,500,000 | 8.57 |
Kirk Cousins | 29 | $31,416,668 | 0.92
Jared Goff | 29 | $31,150,000 | 0.93
Aaron Rodgers | 26 | $28,533,568 | 0.91
Tom Brady | 25 | $11,896,000 | 2.1
Justin Herbert | 25 | $7,248,751 | 3.45
Trevor Lawrence | 25 | $8,362,156 | 2.99
Tua Tagovailoa | 25 | $8,256,937 | 3.03
Derek Carr | 24 | $19,375,000 | 1.24
Dak Prescott | 23 | $19,730,000 | 1.17
Jalen Hurts | 22 | $1,643,230 | 13.41

Tua Tagovailoa was especially impressive as he only played 13 games, but here’s your top five most valuable quarterbacks of 2022:

  • Hurts
  • Smith
  • Burrow
  • Herbert
  • Tua

It’s a pretty good showing for the rookie contract guys, Tom Brady and Geno Smith. For most of the veterans – and only Goff / Cousins / Rodgers even made my short list – the numbers are a whole bunch of 1.2 or less across the board. Kyler Murray, Russell Wilson, and Matt Ryan are some of the dominant examples.

The fact that no one was even close to Geno except the dual-threat in the Super Bowl on an unbelievable roster is certainly something. Seattle really got away with one of the best deals at QB that would make the rest of the NFL rightfully jealous.

Expect Smith’s TD/$m to plummet next year and join the 1.something crowd.

Originally posted on Field Gulls